Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Hello Blogoids and Bloggettes, I'm Back. I've been on a couple month blog sabbatical because I um..burned my hands...making scrambled eggs. Yeah that's it. I couldn't type. Now fully healed and at full strength, let's get down to business.

Dec. 12th at 9 pm, Headlights will be playing at The Picador.The band hails from Champaign, Illinois, a very musical town that has seen the rise of REO Speedwagon in the 1970's, over-looked alt-rock band HUM in the 1990s, and has become home to a current burgeoning indie-rock scene full of popular labels such as Polyvinyl and bands like post-rock quartet (my boys) Oceans. One of the scene's most on-the-verge bands of late is Headlights, who are pretty swell. I can use informal words like that because this is a blog. To add to this excitement, (in addition to my article in the Daily Iowan tomorrow) here is my brief interview with the lovely Erin Fein, singer/musician for Headlights.

What is it about the Champaign-Urbana music scene that makes it a perpetual breeding ground for upstart bands?

C-U is a college town so there are a lot of people coming and going. Shelf lives of bands can be short but there is rarely a shortage of bands. Also, we have had a lucky history of good promoters like Ward Gollings and Seth Fein. Good labels like Polyvinyl and Parasol. And great venues. Rent is cheap so you can easily afford a place to work and be creative. We live in a really cheap farmhouse where we can be noisy around the clock.

Was there any change in you guys' respective songwriting approach after the fluctuation of the bands/musicians you guys played with? Is there something musically to be learned from a band's break-up?

We have started touring with more musicians but we are still primarily writing as a three-piece. So the process hasn't changed much. However, we are starting to write more as a collective. Nick Sanborn and John Owen have really helped our live show. They've added percussion, noise, accordion and bigger harmonies. As well as live bass and extra guitars. Nick knows all those chords and he went to college and everything.

Being in another band hasn't necessarily affected our song writing approach but we've learned a lot over the years about what it takes to be in a productive band. And how to do it without burning out. So perhaps the lessons you learn from a band breaking up helps you stay together the next time around.